


one choice

by chokedme



Category: IT 2017
Genre: Alternate World, Divergent AU, Eddie Kaspbrak - Freeform, IT 2017 - Freeform, M/M, My work - Freeform, No one dies don't worry, Richie Tozier - Freeform, Richie x Eddie, divergent fanfic, i'm not satan, kinda slow burn?, my writing, pennywise who, some... actually probably lots of violence, the characters are older versions of the ones in the 2017 movie
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-02
Updated: 2018-05-03
Packaged: 2019-04-17 01:12:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,270
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14177358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chokedme/pseuds/chokedme
Summary: a divergent au no one asked for, but everyone secretly wanted (jk)





	1. the only mirror in the kaspbrak house

**Author's Note:**

> i'm so excited foe this! i really like this idea and i've nver really seen a divergent au before so hopefully this is okay. *crosses fingers*

Edward rubs at the cut below his jaw, gasping at the blood on his fingertips when he pulls his hand away. It was probably left behind by his mother, who wasn’t very good at using the electric razor. His father usually did his monthly trims, but the Council had rang him at their house a few days earlier during dinner, and Frank Kaspbrak had stood up from the table, gave a small wave to his wife and two sons, and raced out the doorway, his absence stretching out to three days now. But Edward was happy regardless, his reflection in the mirror did not disappoint him, for the first time in years.

On the third Thursday of every month, his faction allows him to stand in front of the only mirror in his house, a dull, foggy surface hidden in a upstairs closet, while his mother uses the razor to clean up the stubble dotting his cheeks and neck. She had grinned at him, catching his eyes in the mirror, and commenting on what a “dashing, young boy he had become.” Edward had almost returned his mother’s smile, until the rest of her sentence had come spilling out of her mouth, his face dropping almost instantly.

“Of course, that’s not what’s important, Edward. What makes you so dashing is your ability to help others, and put their needs before your own.” Edward tried to keep a straight face, nodding along to his mother’s nonsense before turning his eyes back to his reflection. He was 16 now, so the stubble of his facial hair was more insistent, but hardly getting the chance to grow more due to the razor across his cheeks every month. His cheekbones were high, illuminating his tan skin, and small pores.

The brown hair sticking out from his head seemed curlier than past months, looking soft and shiny, like you could run your hands through it. Edward never dreamed of doing that in his mother’s presence, even a slight display of vanity was frowned upon in Abnegation. _Abnegation._ Just the way that the awful word slid across his tongue made him want to leave, and never turn back. He wasn’t fit for this lifestyle, the gray clothes, the strict regulations, the constant nagging in the back of his mind, scolding him for feeling hungry, or tired when _there were people that had it much worse._

As his mother was placing the mirror back in the closet, Edward glanced around his room. _Is this really where I belong? Abnegation, for the rest of my life?_ “Edward, are you nervous about the aptitude test tonight?” His mother said, her face buried in some coats. It’s like she could read his mind. _Of course he was nervous, who wouldn’t be nervous about the possibility of entering a new faction and disappointing his family?_ More importantly, his little brother Connor, who’s opinion was the only one that mattered to Edward. Connor was 14, and had the selflessness that anyone in Abnegation would get wet over.

He was always giving up his seat on the bus, helping the elderly with groceries, and was always there to give Edward a stern look, like _he should know better than to take a seat at the park when there were pregnant mothers standing around._ But Connor was his best friend, and he didn’t want to lose him when he switched factions. _If. If he switched factions._ The aptitude test told you what faction you belong in, and he was scared it would tell him he belonged here. Amidst all the gray. He already had his mind made up, it would seem. No matter what the test told him, he was switching. Edward just didn’t know where. So he turned to his mother, he flashed an innocent smile, helping her close the doors of the closet. “No mother, I’m not nervous because I trust the test.”

_Ha. Fuck the test. I’m out of here._ Edward thought, flinching at the f word, afraid he would be reprimanded for his profanity. But then he remembered, those were his thoughts. No one could hear his thoughts. _Fuck, fuck, fuck._ He internally sang, following his mother downstairs to prepare to drive to the testing site.

                                                                                   ---------------------------------------------------------

The colors hurt his eyes. He had never seen so many colors together in one place before. All he was used to seeing was gray. Gray everywhere. Since each faction was in charge of their on education, he went to an Abnegation school, where everyone wore, slept, and breathed gray. The only time all the factions were together was the testing for the aptitude test, and the Choosing Ceremony. The room was roped off into large sections for organization of the factions, the 16 year olds from the corresponding factions inside.

About 100 teenagers were in here, barely leaving enough walking room inside the cafeteria of the City Council building. His mother had drove him here in her gray car, the one with the loud motor. She had kissed him on the forehead, and spoke very softly into his ear, barely above a whisper. “I trust you to pick what you believe is truly right, despite what the test tells you.” With that, Sonia Kaspbrak drove off, leaving him to face the loud cafeteria, where he had to wait for his future to be decided.

Edward decided after moments of waiting to be called, that Erudite was the most annoying of the other factions. They were rude, jostling an Amity girl trying to get by, whose eyes were “not symmetrically level.” He groaned, turning his eyes away when the girl started crying. He would definitely not be picking Erudite, even though he understood it wasn’t their fault, that they were raised to be politically correct in all situations. Amity was another possibility he thought, shifting in his chair. Like his mother said, he should settle down with a polite, delicate girl who could clean and cook for him.

Amity had a lot of girls, but something was very unsettling about the yellow and red ribbons they adorned in their hair, bright makeup painting their face to look clownish. Edward also didn’t think he could spend his entire life outside, farming and caring or animals. He moved on to glance at Candor, the toned down white and black clothes they wore soothing his eyes a bit more. There were three boys that caught his eye, seemingly in a debate of some sort. Edward watched them carefully, and surprised himself when he started to smile at the sight of their obviously humorous bickering. Before he could move on to observe the kids from the remaining faction, his name was called in a monotonous voice.

_Edward Kaspbrak, Cynthia Roberts._

He stood slowly, nodding to Cynthia, a gray-clad girl he’d seen in his History of Factions class. Following the Council Administrator that had called him, he pushed out the steel doors, and found himself alone in a room with an orange tint, and mirrors covering the inner walls. There was a medical chair right in the middle of the floor, and a table filled with tools he didn’t know the use for directly next to it. Before he could look for too long, the door was pushed open loudly and a man cursing under his breath walked in, rubbing a purple bruise on his wrist. “Oh hey, you must be Edward right? I knew you had to be Erudite or Abnegation, no one names their kid that anymore.”

The man finally looked him in the eyes and whatever snappy comeback Edward had died at his lips. The man -- well really, he should say kid -- was only a few years, 2 at most, older than him. He had large framed black glasses, that almost covered the freckles on his cheeks. Almost. Edward could catch a glimpse of the small dots just barely across his nose. Curly, black hair sprung up from his head, looking as if he had just rolled out of bed. The clothes he was wearing supported that theory, a large black hoodie and gray sweatpants that hung too low on his waist. Too low. Edward swallowed harshly, and backed away from the boy, the way he was making Edward feel was foreign, and he didn’t like it one bit.

“Enough with the gawking babe, I have a test to administer. I know y’all stiffs don’t get out often but jesus fuck, you’re acting like you’ve never seen a Dauntless before.” Although most of the testing administrators were volunteers, there was one Erudite and a Dauntless, since the rules state you can’t be tested by someone from your own faction. Edward was suddenly thankful for that rule. For some odd reason, he felt safe with the boy, even with the insulting digs he made at Edward’s faction. Not that he cared, he never truly felt at home in Abnegation anyway.

                                                                                  ---------------------------------------------------------

The rest of the test went smoothly, the kid -- who he soon learned was named Skinner -- hooked him up to machine with electrodes and gave him a vial of blue liquid to drink. When he jolted awake, he had no memory of the test, which he assumed was like some sort of mental simulation. The only thing that unsettled him was Skinner’s face, the once playful smirk and raised eyebrows now replaced by wide eyes and a gaping mouth. Just as quickly as his face changed, the shocked expression was gone, and Skinner quickly removed the electrodes from Edward’s forehead.

His fingers were shaking. “So,’ Edward started as he stood up, smacking his lips together. There was a foul taste on his tongue. “What were my results?” The look was back on Skinner’s face, as he turned from Edward and quickly tapped away at his computer. “It can’t be… it can’t be….” He was muttering, his voice sounding scared. Scared at what, Edward never understood.

Edward suddenly felt hands on his shoulders. Skinner was leading him to a door in the back of the room, the knob barely visible within the wall of mirrors. “Listen Edward, what I’m about to tell you, you cannot tell anyone. You could be killed if you repeat what I’m about to tell you.” The words hit Edward deep, and he felt a lump start to rise in his throat. Skinner placed his hands on Edward’s cheeks, his thumbs pushing into his cheekbones. “Your results were inconclusive. Usually the test rules out three out of five factions. Your test…” Skinner runs his hand down his face, breathing heavily out his mouth. “Did not rule out any. You received all five factions as your results. It’s very rare result, but it’s called Divergent. Divergence is extremely dangerous, it puts all the rules that our society follows at it’s knees, and under no circumstances should you ever tell that to anyone. Understand?”

Edward feels the tears start to spill over his eyelids, and he internally scolds himself. _You coward, why are you crying like a baby?_ “So what did you put i-into the computer?” Skinner brushes a stray hair away from his face. “I put Abnegation. But by the way you keep asking questions, I’m assuming you won’t stay that way.” Edward nods. He knew he was right to trust the lanky boy. “Okay, now you’re going to go home and say I sent you early because the serum made you sick. Remember what I told you, Kaspbrak.” Edward turned away from him before more tears spilled out, calling back over his shoulder. “Got it, thanks Skinner.”

                                                                                   ---------------------------------------------------------

Dinner that evening was unusually quiet. His father had returned from the Council, barely muttering a hello to his mother, who was frantically bombarding him with questions. The only conversation at the table was when his mother quietly asked Connor to “pass the bread.” He was thankful no one had brought up the test. Edward was worried that the second someone mentioned it, the words would spill from his mouth.

_There was this boy named Skinner, and he told me I was different. He told me I was Divergent, and dangerous. Isn’t that neat? I don’t belong to your stupid faction. By the way, am I supposed to like boys, mother? Because a girl has never appealed to me the way Skinner did. I think he could be good to marry._

Edward almost laughed out loud at the thought of saying that. He figured his mother might quite possibly kill him. But he kept a straight face, clearing the table and washing the dishes, as it was his turn to do tonight. His father stayed behind, watching him carefully scrub each plate. “Shall I do them tomorrow night since I’ve been absent for so long?” He said, gesturing to the soapy plate in Edward’s hand.

_Why does he assume I’m going to be here tomorrow night. I’ll be far, far away from here. Maybe wearing red and yellow bows in my hair, or having a debate with other boys about politics. Or maybe next to Skinner, clad in black with crazy tattoos._

Edward answered his father, choosing his words very carefully.

“That would be so selfless of you.”


	2. jumping off the tallest building in the city

The bus ride to the Choosing Ceremony was quiet, as Abnegation buses tend to be. Edward was surrounded by a sea of gray clothing, but was too occupied with his thoughts to notice anything of that matter. In his heart, he had his mind made up but his logic struggled with him, catapulting him into quite a dilemma.  A pretty standard dilemma actually. Follow your heart? Or your head? Before he could dive deeper into his thoughts, Connor’s hand was on his shoulder and the bus was pulling to a stop in front of the tallest building Edward had ever seen.

Walking out of the bus, he had to tilt his head up to the sky, and even then he could not see the whole thing. The City Council Hall. Where the Choosing would take place. Where Edward would decide to leave his family, or stay in a place where he didn’t belong. Where Edward would decided to follow his head, or his heart. Goosebumps trickled down his flesh as he followed the crowd into the building. 

The seats were small, Edward expected them to be bigger. After all, this was the biggest event in their society, and there were over thousands of people here from all different factions. Yet, the seats were small and uncomfortable, his elbow practically jutting into his father’s side from lack of space. The room was loud, people talking and laughing with one another, cracking jokes and playing hand clapping games. Edward couldn’t wrap his head around why people were so calm about what was about to occur.

This is the decision of your life, you morons!

Soon, the room was quieted down by a large man standing in front of the mass of chairs, clad in bright blue clothing. Erudite. The man cleared his throat, and someone came onstage and handed him a microphone. “Good morning, members of our faction system. And good morning to the soon to be members!” The crowd cheered, as if they were at a sports game. As the man continued speaking, Abnegation volunteers ran back and forth behind him, setting up a table of large, clear bowls filled with who knows what.

“My name is Gerald, and I will be conducting this year’s Choosing Ceremony. I’d like to ask all the soon to be faction members to stand up and move to the roped off section at the front of the banquet hall.” Edward swallowed tightly, and kissed his mother’s cheek before descending the stairs with the other kids his age. He stood beside two boys from Candor wearing white coats that fit snug on their shoulders. Gerald continued speaking. “Since the new generation entering our factions are finally 16, they will choose who they want to be in this world.” He paused, addressing the audience as a whole.

“Decades ago, after the war, it was decided that the world should be split into organized communities, and people joined the ones they thought was the cause of the war in the first place. Those who blamed aggression formed Amity.” Edward glanced at an Amity boy in front of his and squirmed. There was something artificial about the smile on his face. “Those who blamed ignorance became the Erudite.” Edward despised Erudite.

He promised himself he would never associate himself with someone from that faction. The rest of Gerald’s speech was lost, his brain was in other places. He thought of Connor, and the stern look his brother always gave him when he wasn’t selfless enough. He thought of the Amity girl being jostled when he took his Aptitude Test. He thought of his parents, the razor cutting his cheek, the dirty mirror in the upstairs closet. Edward thought of anything that could possibly put him in another place, anywhere but in that room, about to make a decision that would affect the rest of his life.

But Edward’s mind was not that powerful, and soon he drifted back to the dreaded room, where Gerald was looking right at him expectantly. The boys next to him were also looking at him, confusion lining their faces. Edward was called. Edward had just been called. Move. He willed his legs to move, down the stairs and across the platform, trying not to focus on the all the eyes in the room that were undoubtedly on him.

“Edward, the time has come for you to choose the path you will follow until death. Choose wisely.” How comforting. Edward stood staring down at the bowls with wide eyes, his heart thumping so hard in his chest it physically hurt. The glass, the soil, the stones, the water, the hot coals. Which would I prefer to see my blood sizzling over? Edward picked up the knife and dragged it across his palm, his mind too bombarded with thoughts to register the pain. Before he could think too hard about it, he hovered his hand over one of the bowls and let his blood drip down. 

The Dauntless had cheered so loudly Edward was afraid his ears would pop. On the other side of the room, gasps erupted from his gray faction, and it was completely understandable, Edward had only ever heard of one Abnegation to Dauntless transfer. The boy’s name was Richie Tozier, and it had happened less than two years ago at his own Choosing Ceremony. Edward was almost positive Richie was in his Faction History class, but he just couldn’t remember much about the boy, except for his lanky, pale limbs .  

A slight shove on his shoulder pushed him out of his thoughts and toward the sea of black, the cheering initiates waving him forward. He sat next to a chubby boy wearing yellow, presumably from Amity. The boy smiled at him and tried to speak to him over the cheers, but it was too loud. He settled for a firm handshake and a smile. Edward already felt more at home next to the nameless boy in yellow then he had ever felt in Amity. 

The ceremony dragged on much longer than Edward expected, most Choosers taking several minutes to make their decision, and it wasn’t like Gerald could rush them in their choice. When it quieted down, he learned the boy’s name was Ben, and he was switching out of Amity because he couldn’t handle all the sweetness anymore. He said he wanted to become a fighter, and stand up for the people you loved.

“You can’t get into any fights in Amity,” Ben said matter-of-factly, “They would give you the boot to the Factionless if you so much as disagreed with someone.” Edward shivered. That sounded alot worse than feeding the Factionless, which in Edward’s opinion, was the worst thing about Abnegation. It didn’t sound so bad anymore. 

He had also become acquainted with a colored boy to his right, who looked sharp in a collared white shirt. “Mike.” The boy said warmly, squeezing Edward’s forearm. He was surprised to say the least, he had never met a kind Candor before. It wasn’t that they were intentionally rude, it was just protocol for them to always tell the truth, and the truth wasn’t almost never the nicest thing to say. Mike told Edward he had been wanting to get out of his faction since he was 6 years old, after he made his mother cry.

“I had just been taught all the principles in honesty that day in school, and I went home and told my mother everything I thought about her, using the methods they taught us in school. She sobbed for weeks, I guess as a 6 year old, I didn’t really see anything wrong with what I said.” Ben leaned over Edward to ask Mike, “What did you say to her?” Mike looked away, and his jaw tightened. “Don’t worry Benny boy, I’ll tell you when we’re closer.” He suddenly turned back and smiled at Edward. “You too, Ed.” Edward smiled, too grateful to finally have friends to correct him and tell him it was Edward, nothing else. 

Edward had only looked at his family a total of two times after letting his blood sizzle down onto the coals. At the beginning, to see their reactions to his betrayal. And once two seconds ago, as he was being herded outside with the rest of the Dauntless initiates. Connor was smiling and waving softly, even blowing a kiss to show his brother that he supported his decision. Edward was glad until he looked to his parents. 

His mother had tears trailing down her cheeks and her head buried in his father’s shoulder, and his father was looking over her shaking head, glaring at his son with such hatred Edward had to look away. Trying to keep his brother’s face in his mind, he ran to catch up with Ben and Mike, who were happily skipping away from the Choosing room.

Edward noticed they hadn’t even stopped to glance at their parents. Hm.

The cluster of pierced and tattooed people stop in front of a long trail of train tracks, chattering loudly about a train. “Why are they talking about a train?” Edward asked Ben. Ben was staring wide eyed over him, at a conversation between a girl with a pixie cut and a boy with cheek tunnels. “I think…” Ben started, still trying to listen to the conversations around them. “I think we have to jump on a moving train.”  Mike finished, tugging at his fingers. A nervous twitch, Edward gathered. 

“What?” A boy next to them shouted, having overheard their conversation. Mike nodded, holding his hand out to the curly haired kid in blue. “Mike. And I’m afraid that’s true.” “Well fuck me…” The boy muttered, and Ben flinched. “Oh, sorry. I forgot they don’t let you guys curse. I”m Stan. Erudite.” “Candor.” “Amity.” “Abnegation.” Edward finished, and Stan turned to him with his eyebrows raised. “Surprised to see you here. The only other Abnegation to Dauntless transfer was Tozier two years ago.” Edward opened his mouth to reply, when he was interrupted by the roar of a train approaching. 

“Shit. Do we actually have to jump on that? Look at how fast it’s going!” Ben exclaimed, leaning forward with his hands on his knees. “If you want to get in, yeah.” Stan shouted over the train, taking a few steps back as if getting prepared to run. “Get ready guys. You need a running start.” The four boys took deep breaths, and ran forward as the train passed, leaping as high as they could to catch a grip on the open cargo cars. Stan landed first, lending a hand to Ben who was struggling for leverage.

Edward hopped on gracefully, and began to help others, pulling other initiates up to the cars with him. Mike jumped on at the last second, barely catching his hand on the car’s handle. The boys sunk down to the floor panting, and watched the train race away, leaving behind two black figures. After a few minutes of catching their breaths, Stan broke the silence with a grim statement. “They’re out.” “What do you mean?” Mike said, turning towards him. “He means they’re out. They didn’t make initiation.” Ben finished, and the silence returned. 

Shouts from other cars broke them out of their silence. Edward figured they had probably been sitting there for half an hour, maybe a little longer. “What are they saying?” Stan asked, motioning to the other kids in their car. “We have to jump again.” Cheek Tunnels answered, pointing to a building coming up on the train’s side. “We have to jump onto the rooftop of a building?” Edward deadpanned, already done with this faction. “If you want to pass initiation, yeah.” Mike breathed. 

Once again, the boys prepared to jump, this time fear growing and curling in their stomachs. There was a sizeable gap between the train and the building. What if they fell? Edward jabbed Stan with his shoulder. “What if we fall?” The boy ran a hand through his curls. “Death is better than being factionless.” Edward didn’t have a chance to respond, because Stan was jumping out of the car. Time slowed down, and Edward was afraid he wouldn’t clear the gap, but he did. Stan crashed to the ground, scraping his elbows and knees on impact.

“We’re running out of building!” Ben shouted, and Edward didn’t even blink. He knew what he had to do. 

He closed his eyes tightly, and jumped. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> leave some kind words below!  
> xoxo, @onlyreddie

**Author's Note:**

> opinions? leave me some kind words below  
> xoxo, @onlyreddie on tumblr


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